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With his fourth experimental album, truant, Minneapolis-based artist and producer student 1 puts a groovy spin on the messy realities of vulnerability. Handled entirely by student 1 himself—who wrote, mixed, and mastered the 12-track project—the album acts as a deeply personal inventory of a turbulent chapter. It finds him digging his way out of a creative funk by leaning straight into themes of avoidance, mental absence, and the heavy grief of losing his father during its creation. Instead of offering overly clean answers, truant thrives in the gray areas, balancing weightier struggles with a playful, DIY optimism that refuses to let the darkness take over completely.
Track-by-Track Breakdown
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“idcicantbeherefortoolong”
Built from a fast-paced daily creation challenge, this track perfectly encapsulates the frantic energy of dissociation. student 1 weaves a chaotic narrative of being “out of body for no reason,” numbing out over sharp, erratic production. The repetition of the hook a simple, stubborn refusal to care highlights a frantic desire to escape internal pandemonium, using substance use and avoidance as a temporary shield. It captures that exact tipping point where the chaos of the outside world meets a complete emotional shutdown.
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“pissing myself”
Despite the humorous origin of its title, the track functions as a raw turning point for the project. student 1 uses the frantic pacing of the track to address the wear and tear of a reckless lifestyle, nodding to the friction between his mother’s grounded warnings (“Momma say stop tryna be God”) and the isolating “presence up in [his] noggin.” It operates as a vital reality check, capturing an artist staring directly at his own mental absence and admitting that running away can no longer save him.
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“kevinkevinkevin” (feat. Demon Marcus)
Taking its title from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, the track masterfully captures the drifting, cyclical nature of a wandering mind. Demon Marcus sets the stage with a verse about feeling “stuck inside of this box,” which seamlessly bleeds into student 1’s hypnotic reflections on putting all his stock into fleeting moments of bliss. The lingering outro (“I stopped running my mouth / Off it and out of my mind”) perfectly mimics the exhausting, repetitive cycle of mental burnout and dissociation.
The Verdict
truant succeeds because it refuses to hide the rough edges. By packaging heavy, introspective self-examination into infectious, experimental grooves, student 1 creates an unpredictable yet deeply human listening experience. It’s an honest, essential snapshot of someone learning how to show up for themselves, one track at a time.
The post The Art of Showing Up Late: Breaking Down student 1’s Introspective New Album appeared first on The Hype Magazine.
